From the car park, head up the tarmac lane into the park to reach the cafe on the left and a large map/noticeboard on the right. Immediately BEFORE the noticeboard, turn right into the surfaced path with the car park to the right and a brick-lined ditch running to the left. At the first fork (just after a red dog waste bin), take the right-hand branch. Follow this path which swings right then leads you down to a footbridge over a pretty stream.

Cross the footbridge and then continue on the path until you reach a T-junction. Turn left and stay on this main path as it swings left and then right alongside a lake on the left. At the next junction, keep straight ahead along the path with the second, larger lake now visible through the trees on the left.

Soon the mansion will be visible across the lake to the left. Take a moment to enjoy this view. The Lydiard estate was owned by the Tregoze family from about 1190 and in 1259 Henry III granted a royal licence for Tregoze to create a deer park within the adjacent woodland. The medieval park was an impressive estate with church, deer park and manor house. In 1420 the park came into the St John family through marriage and they owned it for 500 years, until World War II.

At the top of the lake you will come to another T-junction. Turn left here and follow the path across the dam.

Follow the path heading towards the mansion and church. As you approach the stone wall in front of the church, the path swings right to reach a staggered crossroads. Turn sharp left here, to join the path which follows the church wall on the right and then passes the side wall of the mansion. Turn right to pass in front of the mansion.

St Mary's is one of England's finest small churches and dates back to the 1100s. It is packed with fascinating monuments to the St. John family including the Golden Cavalier, a full-size effigy of Edward St John, who died of injuries sustained in the Battle of Newbury in the English Civil War. Lydiard House, as it stands today, is a Palladian mansion which was redeveloped in the 1740s. In 1943 the house was requisitioned by the military and served as a hospital for allied troops and then for prisoners of war. The St John family sold the estate at this time.

Keep straight ahead and pass through the arch within an old stone wall (there is a ramp to the left if you need to avoid these two steps). Cross the courtyard and continue out via the two tall stone gate posts. A few paces later you will come to a signed T-junction. Turn right (signed Stables and Walled Garden) and, just a few yards later, turn left onto the narrower tarmac path which leads you past first the coach house (now a tea room) and then the walled garden on the right.

Continue beyond the walled garden to reach a T-junction. Turn left and then, at the first crossroads, turn right. Follow this path through a gate (or open gateway) and then along an avenue of fenced young trees.

Lydiard House was open to the public from 1955. By the beginning of the 21st century, Lydiard Park was in need of substantial works to conserve its heritage value. A £3 million Heritage Lottery Grant was acquired and work took place between 2005 and 2007 to reinstate and restore the parkland including the lakes, dam, avenues, walled garden, coach house and ice house. In its restored state it is now easy to imagine the original grandeur of this historic park.

Some way along, the surfaced path leads you through another gateway then passes under power lines. A short distance later you will reach a signed T-junction. Turn left here to join an avenue heading east, signed as part of the West Park Circuit.

This long straight path eventually leads you to the next T-junction, at the edge of Park Copse. Turn left, signed again as the West Park Circuit. The path leads you through two gates in quick succession. Immediately after the second gate, turn left onto the avenue heading west, back towards the centre of the park.

Follow this long straight path. On a clear day you will be able to see the skyline of Swindon very clearly at about 11 o’clock. The path leads you through a gateway and, as you come up the gentle slope, the mansion will come into view again between the trees ahead.

As you enter the trees, take the first surfaced path on the right. This path leads you past the children’s play area on the right and then the public toilets and cafe on the left. At the corner of the cafe, turn right to return to the car park where the walk began.